last day at MODEL

Thursday was our last day at our internship. We had a pizza party for them. They seemed to have fun. Of course, i had fun too. I really enjoyed working with these kids. In so many ways they are very different from the kids i worked with in irvine, but there are also things about them that are similar. I think this experience furthered my interest in education. I really do not like our education system for a multitude of reasons that i could maybe rant about another time.

Anyways, I'm back home now, but i think i'm going to try and keep updating for the fun of it.

Here are some pics with some of the kids and i:

ocean beach

Since it's been summer vacation, we've been blessed with good weather. I've been taking advantage of this by going to the park and spending time outside. We decided to go to the beach the other day. It was really windy and a little chilly. Coming home soon...excited for world cup...want to see friends and family...

Cherry Picking

Last Saturday i woke up up early and went cherry picking with minh and his girlfriend mimi. I ate so many cherries that day. I must have ate a pound of cherries just picking them off the tree then putting them straight into my mouth. So after eating about a pound i felt obligated to at least buy one pound, so i did. they were only $2.50/lb. minh bought 20 lbs!

A view of the city from just outside minh's apartment


Pictures of the orchard.



minh picking some of his cherries

academy of sciences

Today was free admission at the Academy of Sciences. Since we had never been there before, we took them up on that deal. It was pretty cool. They had really amazing aquariums, a stellar planetarium, a beautiful rain forest dome with butterflies, birds, plants, and other cool stuff.

They have an albino Aligator!

SUMMER!

By taking my last final a few hours ago, i am officially on summer break! Sorry for not updating in such a long time, but i've been busy concentrating on school. Yesterday was Bay to Breakers, a marathon that turns into a crazy party in the streets afterward. We had an awesome time. Angela's brother, Garrett and his girlfriend Michelle came up last weekend, so they got to enjoy bay to breakers. It was absolute insanity. Crazy and fun. all kinds of costumes. all kinds of naked people. all kinds of music. all kinds of drinking. everyone peeing literally everywhere. you wouldn't believe how many people i saw peeing. It is really hard to describe just how crazy it was!

I am really excited for summer. I am hopefully going to do some reading, watching world cup, and visiting friends and family. So far, i have really enjoyed and appreciated relaxing more than i ever have before. it feels great.

Hopefully i will update more often, and have plenty of thoughts and experiences to share.

Here are some pictures from Bay to Breakers:

angela, garrett, michelle, and i


angela, simone, and i


simone and angela

Boring

sorry i've been so boring lately, but it's the truth. two more weeks left of school and i'm trying to make sure i get all the grades i want. Angela and i finished a poster project last night and celebrated with some Ice cream. I chose the "san francisco's tradition since 1928", IT'S-IT. it was so good. The oatmeal cookies are the best part!

I'm taking summer school from july to august. Should be home for most of June. That's all for now.

homework time

Nothing too exciting has been happening lately. I've just been trying to read, do homework, and write papers. Playoffs have been distracting, but i enjoy it. Netflix too.

Pick up line

I heard the best pick up line on the bus the other night: "your breasts are tubular." It was the funniest thing i had heard in a long time. It was late in the night and clearly beer influenced.

I'm going to be taking summer school after all this summer. July 12 - Aug 13. not too bad. The class is "Families and Society". I want to try to graduate next spring, so i want to do everything i can to try and do so. Budget cuts should make things even more difficult next year, so there will be less classes.

Thinking about graduate programs and taking the GRE and other things have also been on my mind. Guess i just gotta take it one thing at a time. Stay in today.

Went to UC Davis today with my internship. I was really impressed. It was really big and beautiful. I thought about what i would be doing if i had gone there. It's fun to think about. It's interesting to just think about every decision you make or thing you do, and think what would life be if you chose the other one, or something else happened. It's important keep these thoughts light-hearted. The point to me is not to dwell about "what could have been", but just how fascinating the relationship between the decisions we make and who we become are. To what extent does your environment affect who you are, and to what extent will your personality affect your environment.

fine dining

Angela's parents, Val and Terri came up and we've been hanging out with them for a couple days. On Thursday, they came over in the morning to check out our place and then we went out for breakfast. We went somewhere on irving street that was good, but nothing special. After that we took them to see the campus. It was a beautiful day and everyone was laying out and all kinds of festivities seemed to be going on (what a day to see the school). After that we cruised on up to see the golden gate bridge. That was spectacular as usual, it never gets old. Then we went downtown to eat at some fancy seafood place. The food was exquisite. They had some fresh, delicious calamari. After dinner they were pooped so they took us back home and returned to their hotel. Pat called me and said he was coming to see his friend's band playing at a gay bar in city. I met up with him at the bar and had a nice time listening to music.

Today, Friday, we had class from 10-2. Val and Terri picked us up for dinner and we ate at our favorite gourmet pizza place, Little Star Pizza. We parted ways after dinner because they are leaving tomorrow morning and wanted to get a good night's sleep before the long drive home. Tonight, we are going to our friend Courtney's 21st birthday party, so that should be fun.

Tomorrow and Sunday i want to dedicate mostly to homework and studying so wish me luck.

p.s. I got netflix recently, and am loving it so far!

The parentals

I'm back from spring break and slowly starting to get back in the groove. It definitely took a good couple days to get back in student mode. Spring break was really good and it was nice to see familiar faces. Played a lot of basketball which was super fun and good for me to get some exercise. Visited family, got to see my dad's work, lunch with friends, late night donut runs, and more. Oh, and i saw jonathan gerrard play music at a coffee shop in irvine. He played really well. I really enjoyed the tunes. His performance had a very intimate and honest feel. The band he opened for was very talented and entertaining too. Before the show i helped bring all the equipment into the venue. It helped me halfway fulfill my fantasy as roadie for a band on tour. it was cool.

Angie's parents have come up for the next few days. Which probably means lots food and things to see and do. I will update more later about what we do. I know they want to check out our school and our place. Everything else is up in the air. Should be a fun next few days.

check this off the list

Last night, after We got our midterms back, (which i got an A on), we went out drinking with our Teaching Asistants! They told us they were going to chevy's happy hour, and i'm not sure how serious they thought we were gonna take their invitation, but we took it VERY seriously! So Angela, Simone, Courtney, and I went met them there and had a few (maybe a little more than a few) drinks with them. It was really fun and also felt so rebellious!

Coming home tomorrow, but got a lot to do today. I need to study for two tests, finish a paper, and pack! So that's all for today, BYE!

2 more tests

I thought i was done with midterms, but apparently not. i got 2 more. i'm not too worried though, the worst has come and past. This past weekend i went to two Tim Barry shows and to mountain view to see a play of willy wonka. The tim barry shows were amazing and i had a really good time at both. he has amazing songs with great messages. A folk hero in my opinion.

Now the willy wonka thing is kinda random, but the program i internship for had a field trip there for the kids. It was a play performed by kids. It was pretty good considering their ages. I just enjoyed getting out and doing something.

One more week until spring break, but i'm going to try and stay focused a couple more days and not get too ahead of myself. With that said, i am so excited to go home for a week and see all the friends and family i love and miss dearly. See you soon!

Here's a little clip of Tim Barry's song "Prosser's Gabriel". It's about a slave who intended to lead a slave rebellion, but another trader slave told his owner and as a result, Gabriel Prosser and lot of other slaves were hung. This all took place in Richmond, Virginia. Above where these bodies were buried, now sits a parking lot.

Mid terms

Yesterday, i finished all my midterms. I had 3 in one day. They got progressively better as the day progressed. My last one was for cognitive psychology. That is the one i spent the most time studying for. Angela and i spent all night studying with simone and courtney the night before. The midterm was exhausting and thorough. We all thought we did pretty well though. It was such a good feeling, to put all that time and effort in, and feel good about the end result, but we'll see.

This weekend, i'm going with the school i internship for to see a play (put on by kids) of willy wonka. Also, i'm going to go see Tim Barry play music friday or saturday.

My days should be relaxing all the way until after spring break. I'm going to enjoy it!

i wish i had a picture or two to post...

Sometimes I Just Like Community College Better

the rules and bureaucracy of a university can be very frustrating. yesterday i went to talk to the program coordinator of the graduate school psychology program to find out more about it. she told me to go to the website and read about it.
Then i asked her if we could go over my classes and just make sure i'm on pace for graduation. she wasn't really helpful there either.

Maybe i'm being a baby about this and should be a "responsible adult" and figure this stuff out on my own. I just liked how in the community college system they had counselors that were specifically there to help you out with these issues.

It makes me want to rush through my undergraduate studies and just get it over with. At the same time, i don't really want to rush, because i don't know what i'm going to do after.

All this is not to say i'm not enjoying this university, as i'm sure these frustrations might and probably do exist at other universities.

Everything else is fine, just needed to do a little venting.

la cumbre

On friday and saturday i hung out with daniel casey and corey holland. It was fun hanging out with them again. Thanks to angela, for sticking through it. Angela auditioned for a student film, got a call back, but then didn't get chosen after the 2nd audition. I'm still really proud of her for being brave and going for it.

Today was a nice clear day so we decided to do our reading in the park. I think that might become a sunday thing. It makes things like reading feel fun and refreshing. You can take little breaks and just people watch and check out all the cool dogs. Today there was a hawk circling over head that i watched until my neck hurt. Some guys were flying one of those remote control planes until they smashed it full speed into a tree. It seemed like the whole park was watching and holding their breathe as it headed straight for the tree. As soon as it crashed, there was a collective "OHHHHHHH!" I way rather be distracted by sights and sounds in the park then the computer or tv at home.

My cognitive psychology class is really intense and involves a lot of thinking (obviously, but you really feel it in this class). The midterm is in a little over a week and i'm pretty scared about it.

My internship with LULAC puts out a weekly newsletter in both english and spanish for the parents. This month, Jen, my program coordinator, asked if me if i could translate the english version into spanish. I said i would give it a try. It's been a fun learning and refreshing process. They said they would reimburse me with a gift certificate, so that's cool.

Tuesday

No internship today, so we took advantage of the free day and did some grocery shopping. Also, we decided to get out of the house and go to Baker Beach and do some reading in a beautiful environment. It was refreshing to feel the clean, crisp air along with the salty, ocean mist. There's something about reading away from the house that makes me feel better and more productive. The beach has a wonderful view of the bridge and marin county. Overall, had a really nice, relaxing day.

Angela's cell phone takes decent pictures, so i will be using that when i can.

Here are some pictures from today:

good nothing day

today i woke up at 4:45am to watch a soccer game. you may not think so, but it was worth it. great game. after the game ended i went back to sleep for a couple hours.

The majority of the day was spent reading for my classes. When it came around to dinner time, we couldn't decide what to eat so we rode the bus going anywhere just hoping to see something that caught our eye. we got off on fillmore and just walked blocks and blocks with no luck. Everything looked really nice and too expensive. We finally made our way all the way to in-n-out, so we were hungry enough to just settle for that.

After that Pat and his berkeley friends, doug and sam, came to the city and we hung out for a little bit.

Pat forgot his wallet i my place so i might go over tomorrow bring it to him and watch the US vs Canada hockey game.

When i look up at the moon it makes me feel like i'm not so far from everyone. It's peaceful feeling.

friends

Hey, so once again, its been a while now. I had friends come to town for a little over a week. needless to say, it was super fun. We did and ate so many things. Just to name a few things we did: a really awesome scavenger hunt type thing, GIANT pillow fight, chinese new year in china town, and plenty of new and good food. However, after all these good times we were unfortunately brought back to reality to find out during the pillow fight, someone stole angela's ID, bus pass, cellphone, and my camera (so no more pictures). It was a bummer. Someone did find angela's ID on the ground and mailed it home. So luckily we got that back, but that's all.

Also, since the past few weeks have been so action packed, i hadn't much time for school. So the past few days, i've been catching up with all the work i needed to be doing.

Another bummer is that my professor that i have for 3 classes, got sick and needed her appendix removed. She won't be back until March 15th. I'm not sure what's going to happen until then. Probably a lot of videos and a substitute. That really sucks. oh well, what am i to do?
Everything else is fine but i miss everyone!

PILLOW FIGHT SAN FRANCISCO 2010:

park

this is kinda old news now, but i've just been busy with school stuff getting ready for my friends this weekend and next week.

but on super bowl sunday i rode my bike to the park where there was a bbq. They somehow had set up a tv in the middle of the park. there was tons of chicken and plenty of beer. We played touch football and watched the game on a beautiful clear day. it was probably my best super bowl day. it was amazing. The coolest part is i didn't know any of these people, but they were friendly enough to let me partake in everything they had.

This week my friends will be up here and so i will hopefully have lots of stories and pictures to come. Later!

busy weekends

the next couple weekends are going to be busy. Next weekend is simone and pat's birthdays. Jon, Hollyn, Chelsea, Ryan, and Julia are coming up to celebrate. it should be pretty fun and i am really excited.
The weekend after that jonathan gerrard is going to try and come up. That will be super fun too. Lots to explore in this city.
the bummer part about all that is, school doesn't cater to my schedule. So, i am going to read and work my butt off this week and try and get ahead of the game that way i can enjoy the weekends and not have to worry about studying while i'm hanging out with my friends.

the list of things i want to do today seems long:
read for my classes
bike ride
shower
grocery shop
clean the house
oh, and watch the super bowl!

I think those things just sounded like a lot more in my head.

MODEL celebration

On friday, the program that i intern for, had a celebration. it was planned to thank all the mentors that volunteer with the kids. Mentors come in and work one on one with the kids for about an hour a week. I, however, supervise the REST of the kids two days a week! So, MODEL was nice enough to thank me with a certificate and a $20 gift card to the movies. It meant a lot and i truly appreciated it. There was a buffet of food and a live band. It was fun, and ofcourse free food is always awesome.

I really like all my classes, but feel the introduction-type lectures are dragging on, and i want to get deep into the material already! i feel like every psychology class, no matter what it is, covers the exact same stuff about research and the scientific method for the first few lectures.

Here is the certificate and picture they gave to us at the celebration:

wednesdays are exhausting

wednesdays are my long day at school. i go from 10am - 7pm. I come home hungry and exhausted. i'm not really complaining though. i like all my classes and they should be very fulfilling. It's nice not having class everyday. Gives me a little break and helps to catch up on reading. Wish i could write something longer and more interesting. i'm just too tired.

i watched old videos that i have on the computer and they made me feel melancholy but also appreciate those times too.

i'll try to do something or see something that i can take pictures of this weekend so i can post them.

Hope all is well with everyone else.

back to school

school starts tomorrow, and i'm doing my best to mentally prepare and get psyched (no pun intended). I'm taking all psych classes. Should be fun and i'm going to do my best to absorb all the material and learn, learn, learn. after all, that's what i'm here to do. so i'm gonna put my heart into it and do it.

All that should keep me pretty busy, but i'm going to try and keep some balance up here.

we had a good last weekend of break. Yesterday we stuffed ourselves with thai food with pat over in the east bay and then headed back to the city for a party. Had a real fun time. And then today was very relaxing, just getting everything ready for school.

Wrong

well i was wrong about the rain stopping. In fact, it started hailing this morning. Yesterday during a break in the rain, i rode my bike a few blocks, and it felt incredible. The air was crisp. the sky was beautiful. my hands were freezing but somehow even that felt good. I think i might start to really trying to get a good ride in at least once a week. Probably mornings on saturdays or sundays.

We've been pretty much cooped inside all this week because of the rain. I'm antsy to get out. It's still raining, but i'm trying to think of something to do if it does decide to stop raining.

winter break over

spring semester is rapidly approaching, and i'm digging my heels in for these last few days of break. I think it's gonna be a pretty busy semester. wish me luck. i think the rain might be over.

Nana Grizol

Last night we went to go see Nana Grizol play at 924 Gilman in Berkeley. I called Theo earlier to tell him we were coming and he sounded excited, so that felt good. Probably ate the most unhealthy meals you could have eaten: We made pancakes at home, mcdonald's fries and vanilla cone, and then beer. My parents must be proud.
We got there, caught up with theo for a little bit, then he went up and played an amazing set. Theo has so much good eneregy. They are so fun and powerful live. The horns just hit you so hard, its awesome.

Here's a clip of a different show they played but you get the idea:

Exploration

Yesterday Adrian and i got a coffee and went on a walk. He showed me just how little i have explored and done in this city. I am going to try and make a point of it to do some more exploring when i get the chance.

There are things called alternate reality games that he was telling me about. A reality game is an interactive naritive that is enacted in the real world. They are kind of like puzzles and scavenger hunts that require you to be active, aware, and creative. They seem like something you could totally get lost in and have a bunch of fun.

Alternate reality games seem pretty involving and time consuming, and right now, i'm not sure if i'm ready. But i will take to heart their ideas and values, and hopefully shape my own exploration.

San Pedro Meets San Francisco

Last weekend angela's friends from san pedro came up to visit. We had a really good time hangin' out, goin' out, and eatin' out. We took them to the golden gate bridge figuring it was the most beautiful san francisco attraction. We also went to chinatown which brought more amusment to them then i had anticipated, so that made me happy. Even though none of them read this i would just like to thank them again for coming up and visiting.

I also finished registering for classes. My classes for this semester are:

social, emotional, and personality development
variations in human sexuality
behavior problems of children
theories of personality
cognitive psychology

Back up in SF

okay, so after exactly 3 weeks, we are back in san francisco. i had a really fulfilling 3 weeks back home and i appreciated all the faces i spent time with. after saying that, i just kinda felt it was time to head back north.

Our first day back seemed pretty busy. we brought up a bunch of stuff including christmas gifts, food, and clothes, so it took a while time to unpack everything. my friend simone is moving, because her old place was completely infected with mold. we went over to check out simone's new place and help her move a few things. after that, pat and hollyn came from across the bay and we hung out, got ice cream, and helped simone move some more. when pat and hollyn headed back to berkeley, angela and i went back over to simone's house to deliver them pillows, blankets and sleeping bags for their first night in their new home. They didn't have anything because all their old stuff got infested with mold!

Angela's friends are in town for the weekend, so it should be a fun time. I register for the rest of my classes in a few hours and i'll probably talk more about that next time.

Here are some assorted photographs from my time at home:

sunrise:



palm tree:



christmas morning:



matt's puppy: